How to Manage Financial Hardship

[mobrien]

It was called Drum Crops Midwest (DCM). And the midwestern-based DCI corps killed it a few years ago.

DCM was just a regional association, but the rules and format were exactly the same as DCI. That's not what I'm talking about. Tiny corps had to compete with Cavaliers and PR and Star, etc, and that type of comparison and competitive environment does those small corps no favors, since the kids in them eventually start feeling like they're peeing into the wind.

I'm talking about a totally new animal using the same tools as the current format, but geared toward corps who only want to field 20 horns but perform at the same performance levels as the big dogs in WC. A much smaller physical space, more creative use of instrumentation, different time limits, and a judging system that rewards execution and audience connection first and foremost.

[dhawtho1]

Unfortunately, drum corps and the activity is no longer local. In 1984 I joined a local corps 5 miles from my house. We had 15 local corps and we competed locally and in the Drum Corps East circuit. When we traveled we would compete with the likes of the Patriots, Firebirds and others from Rochester.

During our mini tours we would find ourselves in 1 or 2 shows with the big boys. We would only see them maybe 2 times a season and one of those being at championships in Atlanta. We all had a ball. I will never forget seeing Blue Devils in 1984. It was my first time witnessing the big guns. It left an impression that made me want to try the bigger groups.

It seems that when the hometown connection was lost the struggles began. They started out slowly and they continue to this day. Auditions are all over the country. Why would anyone want to save a drum corps when it doesn't have community connection. It doesn't always support the local youth. If one fails, travel to the next one. The smaller corps I was in was much more of a family then the WC corps I marched with. To this day, many of those members in that small corps are local band directors. I see them frequently. I have no connection to anyone that I marched with in the Crossmen. They are from all over the country. Just the way that it is. We didnt have facebook or cell phones to stay in touch.

Bring back the small town groups. Foster a community corps and maybe there might be funding. Corporations are probably less likely to jump on board with a group that has no connection or advertising potential with the corporations home base.

[AlexL]

DCM was just a regional association, but the rules and format were exactly the same as DCI. That's not what I'm talking about. Tiny corps had to compete with Cavaliers and PR and Star, etc, and that type of comparison and competitive environment does those small corps no favors, since the kids in them eventually start feeling like they're peeing into the wind.

I'm talking about a totally new animal using the same tools as the current format, but geared toward corps who only want to field 20 horns but perform at the same performance levels as the big dogs in WC. A much smaller physical space, more creative use of instrumentation, different time limits, and a judging system that rewards execution and audience connection first and foremost.

Sure, they were on the same fields as Cavaliers\PR\etc, but they also had a ton of competitive opportunities within short driving distances (so less cost).

I remember our tour in 05. We had 8 shows in WI. Another 4 in IL. 3 in MN. A few more in IN\MI\IA. A corps could literally sit in the midwest, and often in the same state, have very little travel time every night, still get a bunch of performance opportunities, and only leave for a short finals stretch at the end. Is that possible now without all the shows that died off when DCM was killed?

[mobrien]

Is that possible now without all the shows that died off when DCM was killed?

For the late 70s/early 80s, when there was a wide range of corps in the midwest of all talent and sizes, DCM made sense. It made less sense in the late 90s, since there were a handful of DCI Finalist corps in the mix, and then a huge gap between them and the other corps competing in the DCM circuit. The big corps format clearly wasn't working to foster more interest in the smaller corps, and the minute their association with the bigger corps went away, they were stuck with nothing.

Look, I marched four years with a small midwestern corps in the 70s and had a great time, but after a certain point, it became frustrating to realize how much talent was in that corps that was never going to get rewarded, when our 19 horns had to compete against a 65 man horn line from PR or Madison. When the corps disbanded, half of the kids went to march with various DCI corps, where we all made the cut easily, so it's not that the members of the little corps weren't good; it's that the rules of drum corps used the size and budget of the organization to penalize the members.

Provide an alternative competitive environment that makes it possible for local corps to succeed on the field of competition withOUT having to budget $800k to do it, and you have some chance of growing the activity. But looking for ways to make the current DCI model work for everyone is a waste of energy. When your business dwindles to the point where you have few customers, you have to realize that the problem is the business, not the patrons.

Edited October 24, 2012 by mobrien

[glory]

I try to imagine myself imagining myself imagining what Drum Corps Midwest would be like today were it not for what some ascribe as the adverse and evil influence of DCI. Cavies, Phantom and Scouts are still around and performing. They'd be there. Blue Stars came out of retirement, so to speak. Maybe they'd be there. Would Capital Regiment have survived if only for a DCM? Southwind? Railmen? Coachmen? Guardsmen? Capitol Sound? Bandettes? Marion Cadets? A three-week Midwest tour under the auspices of DCM would have been decisive in the survival of these and similar corps?

Take a look as I did at the DCM prelims scores from 1995, a year I picked at random. Of 32 corps scored that day, 14 July, only 11 earned more than 50 points. Half of the 32 couldn't reach 40.

And DCI killed DCM? I say mediocrity killed DCM - mediocrity among the demographic and social shifts that made participants and audiences raise their expectations. DCI just fulfilled the expectations the bulk of DCM corps couldn't.

You can't just resurrect something that didn't work because you liked it. We'd no more sustain DCM today than we would the Edsel or the horse and buggy. The future isn't the past. It never is. Mobrien's suggestion that DCI develop a more WGI-like format is more like it. Certainly the advent of indoor percussion lines points in that direction.

HH

[JimF-LowBari]

And DCI killed DCM? I say mediocrity killed DCM - mediocrity among the demographic and social shifts that made participants and audiences raise their expectations. DCI just fulfilled the expectations the bulk of DCM corps couldn't.

Yeah those kids on the field were really wasting their time huh.... Guess they should have stayed home since they could never measure up to some high and mighty magic score value.

Funny but I can't figure out not having any show is better than a show that contains corps that aren't up to "expectations". Oh well, if it ain't the best then it ain't worth #### then. And there is something wrong with people who want to watch or support these corps.

If audience expectations are what killed DCM then: "we have met the enemy and they are us". Funny how "It's for the kids" can get thrown away if it gets in the way of what people might want to see.

Edited October 24, 2012 by JimF-LowBari

[glory]

... If audience expectations are what killed DCM then: "we have met the enemy and they are us". Funny how "It's for the kids" can get thrown away if it gets in the way of what people might want to see.

You're not giving me enough credit. A retrospective analysis of the demise of DCM in no way compromises the cheers I gave (and give) all the corps. I always offer my own standing ovation to every corps - even the ones that make me wince.

The larger point, however, is the future. I doubt anyone can make a case how DCM could have altered the course of drum corps in recent years. DCM offered a three-week regional competition option for a couple of dozen corps who since have gone extinct. Okay. Now what? DCM didn't offer finances and participation enough to see those corps into the future. That's the bottom line.

The question isn't support for the kids. Nor is it what would DCM have done. The first is automatic and the second is irrelevant. The question is what can drum corps do to sustain itself into the future. The answer isn't the institution that failed us. The answer is something new.

HH

[Pete Freedman]

There seem to be two very different issues being discussed as if they were the same issue:

1. How can DCI corps save money?

2. How can small, local corps make a comeback?

Yes, these two issues dovetail, in that the existence of many small corps helps promote the big corps (and supply them with members), and probably other reasons, but they are fundamentally different problems.

(Note that neither of these issues is the original question of how a corps 'should' respond to a budget crisis, but that's ok.)

As to #1, it looks like the DCI national touring model consists of the DCI corps choosing which shows they want to attend, and then attending them. Many people are criticizing this vigorously, but I haven't seen a proposed solution yet. Would you ban the practice of big corps travelling to compete against each other? Clearly that's their choice, not ours, and not even DCI's. If DCI were to shorten the WC tour by 3 weeks, say, we would see the creation of non-DCI shows during those weeks that the same corps would travel to. Probably the same shows that were eliminated, just not under DCI auspices. But really, my question is this: What is your proposed solution to the alleged problem of a broken touring model?

As to #2, what about those 'field days' and various festivals that travel around church parking lots and public parks during the summer, with all the foods, games and rides. These are basically all-in-one carnivals sold by "amusements companies" as fund-raisers for churches and so on. Could a small drum corps circuit of standstill competitions be created around such events? It draws new fans, corps get exposure, and maybe some money. So, instead of charging very little for admission to a closed show, the units compete out in the open, generating public enthusiasm, and every year it is promoted as a fair where you can go and get your ice cream and watch some of the corps compete in standstill. Divide up the fair money the same would you would the ticket money for a show. Probably make more money than a regular show would... The carnival company might have to do both weekend days to make it worth their while, so maybe you have color guards compete on the other day. Or marching bands, or whatever! But it has to be judged, and the promotion has to be oriented around this; your town's unit against the other town's)

[JimF-LowBari]

You're not giving me enough credit. A retrospective analysis of the demise of DCM in no way compromises the cheers I gave (and give) all the corps. I always offer my own standing ovation to every corps - even the ones that make me wince.

The larger point, however, is the future. I doubt anyone can make a case how DCM could have altered the course of drum corps in recent years. DCM offered a three-week regional competition option for a couple of dozen corps who since have gone extinct. Okay. Now what? DCM didn't offer finances and participation enough to see those corps into the future. That's the bottom line.

The question isn't support for the kids. Nor is it what would DCM have done. The first is automatic and the second is irrelevant. The question is what can drum corps do to sustain itself into the future. The answer isn't the institution that failed us. The answer is something new.

HH

OK, then I undirect my rant from you and direct it to anyone who has the mentality I B-worded about.

I have no idea of what killed DCM but have heard differing stories from people who apparently were there at the time. But I don't get what difference it makes if a certain percentage of Prelims corps were scoring below a certain number. And really don't understand DCM "failed" drum corps, especially looking at the number of corps taht were involved (even some Srs). OK, DCM wasn't a full season circuit (I guess) but if that wasn't the goal of the circuit, why would that be a problem. Kinda sounds like the lesser than DCA Sr circuits I was in that filled the needs of lesser corps and (show sponsoring) towns.

As for low Prelims scores had the same thing in the early years of DCI not to mention the AL and VFW Nationals where dozens of corps competed. Then again less corps usually mean higher scores as the less sucessful ones usually go under for various reasons. And let's not forget that the tic system was unforgiving to corps who were not that clean.

So if the problem is the audience will not accept anything less than the best then DCI is IMO screwed. The current long lasting top corps have had bad years but were able to come back. But if any of them hit the skids now, will anyone other than alumni really care? And how will new corps be able to form and survive mre than a year or two with the "only the best" mentality. This way of thinking does entering into financial hardship.

Edited October 24, 2012 by JimF-LowBari

[MikeN]

If DCI were to shorten the WC tour by 3 weeks, say, we would see the creation of non-DCI shows during those weeks that the same corps would travel to. Probably the same shows that were eliminated, just not under DCI auspices.

Just for consideration, DCI in the last decade *did* shorten the tour by 3 weeks (2 in June, 1 in August). No new shows popped up, and no corps started looking for replacement gigs.

Mike